Improvement in the mode o



1 Nrrn rrns J. F. VINSLOY, OF TROY, NFV YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN THE MODE OF MANUFACTURING MALLEABLE IRON DIRECTLY FROM'THE ORES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 4,526, dated May 16,1846.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, JOHN F. VINsLoW, of Troy, in the county ofRensselaer and State of New York, have invented new and usef'ulImprovements in the Process of Manufacturing Malleable Iron Directlyfrom the Ore, and in the furnace therefor; and I do hereby declare thatthe following is a full, clear, and exact description of the principleor character which distinguishes my invention from all other thingsbefore known, of the mode of proccdure, and of the apparatus employedtherefor, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making partof this specification, in which- Figure l is an elevation of areverberatory furnace; Fig. L., a longitudinal vertical section; Fig. 3,a cross vertical section taken at the line X X of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4L ahorizontal section taken at the line Z Z of Fig. 2.

The same letters indicate like parts in all the figures.

My improved process is applicable to the treatment of oxides of irononly, and this I effect in reverberatory furnaces, although some partsof the process may be applied in furnaces without the reverberatoryfeature.

It has long been essayed to reduce the oxides of iron directly into themetallic state by heating the ores mixed with carbonaceous matter, withthe view to produce deoxidatiou and then to transfer the mass thustreated to the puddling process; but in all these, which have so farbeenunsuccessful,theupperstratum only of the mass of ore and ca-rbon wasexposed to the direct action of the heat and iiame, instead of the wholemass, and to avoid this evil it has been suggested to apply heat to themass of ore and carbon below as well as above by placing the fire-gratedirectly under the furnace hearth or floor and then reverberating thefiame and passing it over the charge. This modification, while itremoves the leading objection of the process above indicated, introducespractical difficulties. of such niagnitude as to defeat the contemplatedobject.

My improvements effectually avoid these difficulties; and they consistin exposing the mass of pulverized ore mixed with carbonaceous matter tothe combined action of a gentle llame or heat and currents of heated airpassing through the mass, which in their passage not only agitato themass to`aid the mechanical liberation of the gases evolved, but aid inevolving the gases from the oxide and carbon, which in their nascentstate combine and revive the metallic particles. The mass is thensubjected to the combined action of a more intense dame and tohighly-heated currents of carbureted-hyd rogen gas that pass through themass and take up the remaining oxygen of the ore and revive the metallicparticles, and then the mass passes to the paddling process, where it issubjected to a still more intense heat and I to the action of jets ofhighly-heated atmospheric air, to consume the carbonaceous matter andfree it from other impurities. For the application of my improvedprocess Ihave made important modications in the wellknown reverberatoryfurnace, which for this purpose is made of much greater length thanthose heretofore used.

In the accompanying drawings, which represent the furnace as modified, ais the grate and Z) the puddling hearth or floor, separated from thegrate by the bridge c. The hearth is made with a slight inclination orpitch from the working-door d toward the hole e, for the discharge ofthe slag, &c. At the side opposite the bridge the furnace is narrowed bymeans of two jamb-walls, ff, to narrow the iiame and damp itsintensity,and beyond these jamb-walls there is a flat cast-iron chamber, (dividedinto two compartments by a partition, L) g l1, the top j of whichinclines upward at an angle of about ten degrees, the-lower and forwardend being on a level with the edge of the working-bottom or hearth. Thistop plate is perforated with small holes of about threeeighths of aninch in diameter, for the passage of the blast of heated atmospheric airfrom the chamber g, and of carbureted hydrogen from the other chamber,h. To prevent this top plate, j, from being over-heated, it is made ofsufficient thickness to admit of siphontribes or water-passages k, whichcommence at one edge, pass along between two rows of blastholes, aroundthe end o f one, and then back between two other rows to the edge lofthe plate, to form the communication with a coldwater chamber, Z, at theside to establish a circulation of water through the tubes or passages.The reverberating top or arch m of the furnace extends over thisperforated plate to the chimney a, which is provided with a door at ofor the admission of the charge.

Along the front of the furnace there are two l other doors, p and q, onefor giving admission to and the occasional stirring of the charge overthe chamber hand the other for working or balling the iron.

rlhe blast of air which is introduced in the chamber g may be heated inany known manner; but that which I have practiced is by passing it fromthe usual blower through a series of tubes, i', arranged in the chimneyand leading to the chamber g, and the pipe which leads from theheating-tubes to this chamber should be provided with aregulating-valve. For the supply of carbureted hydrogen, the materialfrom which the gas is generated-such as resin-is placed in a vessel, s,situated on top of the arch and near the chimney, where it receivessufficient heat to melt the resin, &c., which passes from the boxthrough the pipe t into the chamber h, which answers the lpurpose of aretort for the generation of gas, in consequence of its proxim-` ity tothe re, and as the gas is generated it is driven through the aperturesin the top plate and through the charge above. The pipe that forms thecommunication between the vessel s and the chamber or retort h should beprovided with a cock to regulate the supply of melted resin or oth'ermaterial used for the production of the carburetedhydrogen gas.

The blast of heated atmospheric air for the puddling is obtained fromthe chamber g by forming a communication between this chamber and thetuyeres n u-one on each side of the working-door-by means of the pipes vn, and these pipes should be provided with cocks or valves in the usualmanner, to enable the workman to regulate the supply of heated air, asmay be required by the condition of the process. rlhe ore, previouslypulverized or granulated and well mixed with pulverized vegetable ormineral coal in proportions varying according to the quality of the ore,is introduced through the door o and spread over that part of theperforated plate which covers the air-chamber y. The charge is laid onas thick as the capacity of the furnace will admit without interferingwith the draft. It is there exposed to the action of the reverberatedllame and the hot-air blast from the chamber g, which, passing throughthe numerous small holes in the plate, is diffused through the mass ofore and carbonaceous matter, thereby aiding in the process ofdecomposition and purification of the mass. Then the workman perceivesthat the mass begins to cohere, the effeet being produced first on thatportion of the mass nearest the grate, he gradually transfers it to thatpart of the perforated plate which lies over the chamber 7L orgas-retort, where it is subjected to the joint action of a more intenseflame and carbureted hydrogen, to take up and remove the remainingportions or traces of oxygen and revivify the metallic portions. Fromthis part of the process the mass is transferred to the working-bottomor puddling operation, where the mass is heated with the hot-blast toextract the remaining portions of carbonaceous matter, and as the slagis produced and separated it ows through the hole e. The transfer of themass and the repetition of the charge is conducted in such manner as tocorrespond withthe puddling operation.

In the last part of the operation, should it appear to the workman thatthe mass contains any portion of oXide-a condition well known toexperienced puddlers-a small quantity of flowers of lime-may beintroduced as a flux, to complete thedecomposition and increase theyield of metal.

Any mode of heating the blast for the first part of the deoxidizing andthe puddling processes may be employed, as this makes no part ofmyinvention. N or do I wish to conne myself to the use of ,carburetedhydrogen in the second part of the deoxidizing process, or to the modedescribed of generating the gas, as I contemplate using hydrogen as wellas carbureted hydrogen, generated in any desired manner, and I have onlydescribed the above mode as that which I have essayed and deem thesimplest and most econominal.

I do not claim as my invention simply the employment of a blast ofatmospheric air in the puddling-chamber, this having been doneheretofore with cold air in puddling pig-iron, and with heated air toconsume the carbonic oxide evolved from the fire-chamber, while I employit in a highly-heated state to consume the carbonaceous matter mixedwith the ore.

Vhat I claim as my invention in the process of making malleable irondirectly from thel orc is- Y l. The passage of heated atmospheric airthrough the mass of ore and carbonaceous matter in the process ofdeoxidizing, as herein described. 1

2. The passage of hydrogen or carburetedhydrogen gas through the mass inthe process of deoxidizing iron ore, substantially as described, whetherthis be done after the ore has been partly deoxidized by the previouspart of the process or not.

3. Treating the mass inthe puddling-cham ber with a blast ofhighly-heated atmospheric air to consume the carbonaccous matter,substantially as herein described.

4. In the furnace above described, making the plate or bed on which theore is placed for deoxidizing with numerous perforatons for theintroduction and passage of highlyheated atmospheric air or other gasesthrough the mass, for the purpose and in the manner described.

5. The perforated plate or bed, as described, in combination with thepuddling-chamber,

as described. p

JNO. F. WINSLOIV. Witnesses:

CHAs. M. KELLER,

A. P. BROWNE.

